Waaseyaa eased to Mikoto’s side, slipping his arms around his waist and hugging him with more emotion than he usually showed.
“Uncle?”
“I live on because I have the benefit of a tree’s blessing.” Waaseyaa laughed in a way that made him seem much younger. “Mikoto, brother of my brother, you have a wind’s blessing. It means you will live.”
Then Glint was grappling all three of them in a spine-bending hug and doing a poor job of hiding his sniffles.
Yulin lent his support, one hand firm at Mikoto’s back. “As you are aware, noble heart, Glint has never liked letting go. And you have spared him the necessity.”
Mikoto could only be boggled, so he settled for a nod. And hoped they’d let him return to Tzefira soon.
“Well, boys! Guess we’ll have to train him up right, since he’s the only one we’ll ever need.” Salali tipped his hat. “Mikoto Reaver, Eternal Headman.”
FIFTY-NINE
Unions and Reunions
Tenma prodded at his ice cream, lost in thought.
“She’ll be here any second.” Ginkgo waved a spoon loaded with mint chocolate chip ice cream. “What’s got you so morose?”
“I am twenty-six years old.”
“So?”
“I am twenty-six years old, and this is my first date.” Gesturing between them with his own spoon, Tenma said, “A chaperoned date with an eleven-year-old girl.”
Ginkgo snickered. “I’m going to hire us a Dimityblest chronicler while we’re here. And those very words will begin the history of your dynasty.”
Tenma shook his head. “She wants to add to Michael’s dynasty. Give the moth to him.”
Lilya arrived a few minutes later, arm linked through Kyrie’s.
The brothers Mettlebright went to get more ice cream, blatantly giving Tenma a few minutes to speak with Lilya.
“Are you very sure about this?” he ventured.
The girl fixed him with a look that reminded him very much of Isla. “Yes.”
“Wanting something similar doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll find it in each other.”
“Not similar,” she countered. “Same.”
“And there’s the difference in our ages.” He’d promised to address every possible hindrance. Surely, it was his responsibility.
Lilya said, “I’ll grow.”
He let his head hang. “But your parents might not like it.”
“Why not?”
“It’s … hard to explain.”
Stretching across the table to touch his hand, she asked, “Will Papka and Mum have good reasons? Because I think everything will work out.”
Ginkgo returned tail swaying, and Kyrie followed, carrying dishes for himself and for Lilya.
Ignoring them, Lilya pressed, “Don’t you?”
Tenma would be honest. “I would love to call Stately House home, but it’s hard to picture you as my wife, Lilya-chan. You’re so young. It’s too soon.”
Ginkgo nodded approvingly. “That’s a proper attitude. Plenty of time for that later.”
“I like having things settled,” said Lilya. “Nobody will worry about my future because you’ll be waiting.”
“What if you change your mind?”
She stared at him again. There wasn’t any hostility there, but her next words were a blunt force. “Do you take promises that lightly?”
“No!” he gasped. “But ….”
Tenma found that he couldn’t voice any further protests. He’d only wanted to give her a chance to reconsider, but anything more would be an insult, both to her and to the wish they shared.
“I will not shy away from this choice if it’s allowed to me.” Tenma sat straighter and placed his hands on the table. “You have my promise now, before others call for vows. I accept, Lilya-chan.”
With a straightforwardness he was growing to appreciate, she said, “Right. We’re set, then.”
And conversation moved on to the impending arrival of Harmonious Starmark.
However, when the time came for Ginkgo and Kyrie to clear away evidence of their midnight raid on the kitchen, Lilya tapped Tenma’s arm and said, “I did think of one thing. I’m not sure if it will be a problem.”
“Yes?”
“Looking him up and down, she eased closer to whisper, “I’ll grow.”
Tenma could only agree.
Lilya bluntly announced, “I’ll probably be taller than you.”
Once again, Tenma could only agree. He was still laughing when Ginkgo and Kyrie returned.
Ginkgo wasn’t sure he’d ever had more fun than keeping Dad posted with texted asides about Lilya’s impending betrothal. True, he loved the gossip. But some of the elation was knowing that Dad was safe enough to be snide.
Ribbons for days
Do not dismiss them lightly
He pioneered embroidered sigilcraft
Gonna start adding them to my work shirts?
So you had not noticed?
NOW who is amused?
“Apologies for denying you rest.” At four in the morning on Dichotomy Day, Glint greeted them at his back door in formal attire. Flapping a hand Yulin’s way, he explained, “Every minute of my day has been scheduled.”
“Thank you for making time,” said Lapis.
Lilya said, “More importantly, look who’s here!”
Our girl is putting Ever ahead of marriage
I see no issue with her priorities
Or have you forgotten that she is a child?
How can I forget?
Tenma languishes a *little* less over the age difference
It might be amusing to mention
the years between Tsumiko and me
Are you trying to encourage him?
Let us say that I am willing to indulge Lilya
Nice out
Have you progressed past sniffening?
Almost
Dogs
Ginkgo surveyed a receiving room that would probably see dozens of couples over the course of the summer. Banners emblazoned with the Starmark crest decorated the walls, and the drapings on the table also shimmered with copper.
The central table was a large square, with seats on either end for those scheduled to sign contracts. Glint presided between them, presumably to bear witness to the vows and to add his seal to the attendant paperwork.
Yulin and a small group of moths fluttered about narrow tables along the room’s edges, straightening already-tidy piles of paperwork.
On the groom’s side of the table, Tenma sat between Harmonious and Lapis.
“An honorary Starmark, you say?” asked Glint, peering at Tenma with new appreciation. “But Lord Mossberne, are you not Lilya’s go-between?”
Lapis tucked his arm through Tenma’s. “This boy is my apprentice. And Miss Lilya has enough support.”
On the opposite side of the table, Lilya hugged Kyrie and Ever to her sides.
Snapping a couple of pictures, Ginkgo sent them together.
There is a certain symmetry
Each with a dog and a dragon
I don’t dare point it out
But doesn’t it mean they’re kind of perfect for each other?